Safe passage for Taliban discussed in Pakistan
By Sebastian Abbot
Topics: From the Wires, News
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States on Wednesday discussed how to provide Taliban leaders safe passage to join peace negotiations, a key issue to allow the talks to succeed, officials said.
Many senior Taliban commanders, including leader Mullah Omar, are believed to be based in Pakistan, making Islamabad’s cooperation critical. Pakistan also has strong historical ties with the group that many analysts believe have continued.
The U.S. and Afghan governments have urged Islamabad to push the Taliban to participate in a peace process that has had trouble getting off the ground. All three countries believe a peace deal is necessary to prevent Afghanistan from descending into civil war after most foreign forces withdraw by the end of 2014. But the process has been plagued by mistrust between the three governments and the Taliban.
The discussions that took place Wednesday in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, marked the inaugural meeting of the Safe Passage Working Group, said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry in a written statement. The three governments agreed to form the group in April, the ministry said.
The group is focused on choosing which Taliban leaders should be provided safe passage, guaranteeing their security and dealing with logistics like visas, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to talk to reporters about the meeting. The official described the meeting as “positive.”
The U.S. began clandestine talks with the Taliban last year, aided by Germany and secretly held in Qatar. It is widely believed that Pakistan provided safe passage to some Taliban militants to attend those discussions.
But the contacts have run into a series of problems.
The Taliban broke off talks earlier this year, saying the U.S. reneged on a promise to release Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. security prison in Cuba. To get the Taliban back to the table, the U.S. has said it is considering a proposal to transfer some Guantanamo Bay inmates to a prison in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have said they want the prisoners freed unconditionally before resuming talks.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Financial Times hacked by Syrian Electronic Army
-
Gitmo hunger strike reaches 100th day
-
New DSM, new debates over ADHD and autism
-
John Brennan makes surprise Israel trip over Syria concerns
-
Pentagon officials: Drone War on Terror is endless
-
Toronto mayor reportedly caught on video smoking crack
-
Google Glass chief: "You'll know" when someone is spying on you
-
California powers $550 lottery jackpot
-
North Dakota lawmaker: Blame Roe v. Wade for school shootings
-
Take the Pope Francis tour of Buenos Aires and be pontiff for a day
-
U.K. hacker sentencing highlights U.S. overreach
-
Obama leaves room for whistle-blower prosecution
-
Should Obama go Bulworth?
-
Government to share cyber-vulnerabilites info with private sector
-
Lockheed Martin yet another victim of the sequester
-
Report: 84 percent NY fast food workers report wage theft
-
Report: Millennials don't like Abercrombie & Fitch
-
Conservative group says AARP promotes radical "homosexual agenda"
-
Study: Muscle men more politically conservative
-
Private firm hoards license plate data, plans vast database
-
California police accused of erasing video of lethal beating
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
A missing poster hangs on a tree outside the Cleveland home of Amanda Berry Wednesday. Berry and two other women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, made a daring escape this week after being held captive for more than a decade.
Credit: AP/Tony Dejak -
Elvis Rafael Rodriguez and Emir Yasser Yeje offer their best impression of Eric B. & Rakim. On Thursday, New York prosecutors identified the pair as members of an international gang that robbed $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining ATM machines around the world.
Credit: AP -
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a podium during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Technology Enhanced Accelerated Learning Center at Essex County Newark Tech in Newark, N.J., Tuesday. Christie made less flattering headlines this week after undergoing a secret stomach surgery to curb his weight.
Credit: AP/Julio Cortez -
Workers stand outside the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday after a fire broke out in its 11-story building. Eight people were killed in the blaze.
Credit: AP/Ismail Ferdous -
Workers rescue a woman trapped for 17 days in the rubble of a garment factory building in Saver, Bangladesh, Friday. The building's collapse was the worst industrial disaster in the country's history, killing more than 1,000 people.
Credit: AP -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gives his victory speech Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., after winning back his old congressional seat in the state's first district.
Credit: AP/Rainier Ehrhardt -
Jodi Arias reacts in Maricopa Country Superior Court Wednesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias has subsequently said she wants the death penalty, claiming she'd "prefer to die sooner than later."
Credit: AP/The Arizona Republic/Rob Schumacher -
Ariel Castro stands for his mug shot Thursday at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where he is being held on $8 million bail. The former bus driver is accused of imprisoning three young women and beating them repeatedly over a period of 10 years.
Credit: AP/Cuyahoga County -
Charles Ramsey addresses the media Monday after helping rescue three women held captive in Cleveland for more than a decade. Ramsey's hero portraiture has been complicated by revelations of his own domestic violence record.
Credit: AP/The Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw -
Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The military branch was rocked this week after its chief sexual assault prevention officer was charged with sexual battery.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
Recent Slide Shows
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Mobile Entertainment: 9 Amazing Drive-In Movie Theaters Still Standing
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Mobile Entertainment: 9 Amazing Drive-In Movie Theaters Still Standing
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Netflix's April Fools' Day categories
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
The week in 10 pics
-
Slideshow: Nerd Obama
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Jaron Lanier: The Internet destroyed the middle class
Scott Timberg
-
When the IRS targeted liberals
Alex Seitz-Wald
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch
Benoit Denizet-Lewis
-
Pat Robertson: Husbands won't cheat if the wife makes the home "wonderful"
Jillian Rayfield
-
White House trolls Republicans over Obamacare hashtag
Jillian Rayfield
-
Is Reddit censoring openly racist users?
Fidel Martinez, The Daily Dot
-
Report: Millennials don't like Abercrombie & Fitch
Katie Mcdonough
-
Cannes: The 10 hottest movies
Andrew O'Hehir
-
My "truly remarkable" cancer breakthrough
Mary Elizabeth Williams




Comments
0 Comments